The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent government agency that provides mail delivery and other services to the public. The USPS is widely recognized as a safe and reliable means for sending and receiving mail and other items. With the advent and steady growth of electronic mail and electronic commerce, the physical mail stream will increasingly be utilized for sending and receiving packages. In the context of electronic commerce specifically where a seller has an item to sell and a buyer has a need for the item, the sale of the item my require facilitation from a third party for financial arrangements or for delivery of the item. For example, if the agreement to sell the item is done remotely between a seller and buyer who are complete strangers or otherwise have no trust in the other party's ability to perform their respective portions of the bargain, a trusted third party may provide a means to transfer payment for the item or to provide delivery of the item.
Therefore, the need to efficiently provide item sales and delivery service has become a common need for the United States Postal Service and many other organizations. More specifically, efficiently arranging over a communication media a sales transaction and delivery of an item between a seller and a buyer has become a critical service for many delivery system operators. This is because in an increasingly competitive environment, meeting and exceeding the expectations of those who receive a service is essential for a service provider.
One solution to the item sales and delivery service problem is for the seller and buyer to use a person-to-person payment system, for example, over the Internet. In this situation, a buyer agrees to buy an item online from another individual, for example, at an online auction site. After the agreement as to the sale is made, the buyer must send a payment to the seller. Typically, the person-to-person payment system handles in the background the payment transaction, for example, a debit to the customer and a credit to the seller via credit card. Once the seller's account is credited, the person-to-person payment system can notify the seller via email that the person-to-person payment system has the money. In a normal a person-to-person payment system, this is the end of the procedure.
Great inefficiencies are created in this procedure because, for example, the delivery component of the procedure is not coordinated with the financial aspects of the procedure. Accordingly, efficiently providing item sales and delivery service remains an elusive goal. Thus, there remains a need for efficiently providing item sales and delivery service. In addition, there remains a need for efficiently arranging over a communication media a sales transaction and delivery of an item between a seller and a buyer.